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Description
Purpose: This study responded to a significant gap in the body of knowledge that describes mediating factors of the relationship between food insecurity and obesity by predicting a relationship between food insecurity and eating pathology. Food insecurity is the condition of being without consistent and socially acceptable access to adequate amounts of sufficient food. Sub-clinical pathological or disordered eating is harmful eating behavior oriented toward weight loss that leads to inappropriate nutrient intake. Methods: Using the levels of influence of an adapted functional throughput model of the Social Ecological Model, NHANES 2013-2014 data was used to conduct statistical analyses to determine the relationship between eating pathology and food insecurity. Analyses primarily included logistic regressions to generate odds ratios of eating pathology with and without control variables. Results: Female participants experienced 1.736 greater odds of eating pathology than male participants. NH-Black and Multi-Ethnic/other participants had greater odds of endorsing eating pathology than NH-White participants. Participants with a desire to weigh less had 7.356 times greater odds of endorsing eating pathology than those without. Participants with a lifetime history of using SNAP had 1.642 times greater odds of endorsing eating pathology. Persons with marginal food security had 1.477 times greater odds of endorsing eating pathology than those with full food security, and persons with low and very low food security had 1.249 and 1.501 greater odds of endorsing eating pathology, respectively. This relationship was no longer significant when controlling for socio-ecological variables, including BMI. Conclusion: When BMI, food security category, and all socio-ecological variables were added as control variables, the relationship between food insecurity and eating pathology was not significant. Persons with a lifetime history of using SNAP, however, had 1.617 greater odds of endorsing eating pathology, indicating that although the relationship between food insecurity and eating pathology was mitigated by covariates, this research has public policy implications.
